House Finch

[denise ippolito]

Canon 40D
EF 100-400
ISO -160
1/400 SEC. at f/ 8

[Phil Ertel]

Hi Denise,

I like this image. The composition is pleasing to me with a nice background. The bird is sharp with good details and has good eye contact.

I hope you don't mind but I tried a couple of edits in photoshop. I darken the lights spots in the background and increased contrast just a touch. last I added about 2 point of black in Selective colors to both eh black and neutrals. The lighter spots in the background were the most distracting (minor). I also quickly tried to lighten the shadow on the leg. If you took more time and were more careful than I did the results would be better.

I did not adjust the colors so if they changed it was a mistake because I like them in your post.

Best Regards,

Phil

[denise ippolito]

Thanks for the tips Phil. I think I will lighten his leg. I think the bird looks better as well. I prefer a lighter BG so maybe I'll just tone down the light spots if they are distracting.Thanks again for your help.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Beautifully exposed and the colours are right on. Like what Phil has done with the leg. Nice perch to showcase your bird.

[Gus Cobos]

Lady Denise,
I like the composition, good head angle and eye contact, nice perch and sharp details, the multi colored background is a tad distracting especially the white blotches; my eyes keep going there. and its noisy. Here is what I did see if you agree and like...I burned in the whites, ran noise reduction, increased saturation just a tad and contrast. I opened up the eye and selective sharpened...:cool:

[Nonda Surratt]

Lots to like here Denise! Good job

Everything else covered

[Desmond Chan]

Hmmm...I prefer the contrast of the original and find the sharpness of the second one a tad too much. Nice shot, Denise !

[denise ippolito]

Thanks Gus I'll try to clean-up that BG as suggested. I ran a noise reduction thru CS3 . Should I be doing it thru anything else? I generally work thru lightroom for minor details and cropping. Then go thru CS3 for any ccloning, sharpening & NR .

[Oscar Zangroniz]

Hi D. I agree with Desmond, I also prefer the original with the contrast. As for the rest, excellent perch, eye contact and background.
Congrats,

[Lance Peters]

HI Denise - lovely base image - somewhere between the first two reposts would be good IMHO.

:)

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Denise,
Think I agree with Lance, but this is a very lovely image which ever way you look at it!
Regards,
Nicki

[Gail Spitler]

Denise - I think that lens can give wonderful bg's at times. Perhaps boasting the ISO higher - 500 or 640 and opening the lens all the way (f/5.6?) would give a smoother bg.
Just an idea.
Gail

[Alfred Forns]

Really nice PS work Denise Maybe just a tad darker Very pleasing and nothing not to like about it !! Big Congrats !!!